Books and Videos
Every book in the library is assigned a unique call number that classifies the book according to subject. Books are shelved in call number order throughout the library.
To find books and videos at USF, search the library catalog. The catalog searches broad descriptions of books and videos.
- Search by keyword using your own terms and use the limits on the left-hand side of the results screen to focus your search. Keywords are words you would normally think of to describe your topic. They can appear anywhere in the record (title, author, subject, publisher, etc.)
- Use keywords, titles, or authors, to point you to relevant subject headings. For example, when searching japan and women as keywords, the book below came up as a result. Click on any relevant subject headings that appear at the bottom of the record. Subject headings are "official" subject headings approved by the Library of Congress; they are hard to guess on your own.
Find Books and Videos in other Libraries Using Link+
Click on 
in the library catalog to search for books and videos our library does not own or that are checked out. Or search Link+ directly by keyword or subject to discover books and videos held by our partner libraries. Link+ items arrive in 3-4 days. They may be checked out for 3 weeks and renewed for an additional 2 weeks through your library record.
Find Books Using Google Books
Google Books includes thousands of digitized books from publishers and partner libraries. Because Google Books searches the full text of books, you can often get good results with more narrow, specific searches and find books you might not have found in the library catalog. You will not be able to read the entire text of most recently published books in Google Books. Search the USF library catalog or Link+ to find a copy of the book you want.